A boy in the Darfur region of Sudan strums his guitar. The boy is a refugee of the genocide in the area, according to Instruments of Joy founder Joshua MacLeod. / Courtesy of Instruments of Joy

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The Tennessean

A student at a primary school in Nairobi, Kenya, holds his guitar, which was donated through Instruments of Joy. / Courtesy of Instruments of Joy

How to help

Guitars can be donated to Christ Church Nashville, at 15354 Old Hickory Blvd. in Nashville. Drop them off in the front office of the church or email Charlie Smith at charlie.smith@instrumentsofjoy.org for instructions. Tax-deductible monetary donations are also accepted. For more information, visit www.instrumentsofjoy.org.

Inspiration struck Joshua MacLeod during a mission trip to a Malawi orphanage a few years ago.

A boy came into the room to strum on a makeshift guitar he had fashioned out of a gas can and a block of wood. The ukulele-like sound filled the orphanage and lit up little faces.

“When he started playing, the entire atmosphere of the building changed,” MacLeod said.

The boy was an amateur, but MacLeod heard something he recognized from the sidewalks of Broadway and the radio waves back home.

“When you live in Nashville, you can tell if somebody has musical talent.”

So when MacLeod did return home, he found guitars collecting dust in his bonus room and sent them back to Malawi. A few more international donations from MacLeod and others followed, and last year, the informal gifts formed the bedrock of a new ministry that aims to send instruments to aspiring musicians in the developing world.

“Music has such ridiculous potential to bring hope and encouragement to people,” MacLeod said, reflecting on the Instruments of Joy ministry he founded. “There’s not a better feeling in the world.”